NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Jonesboro, IN
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
5 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Jonesboro, Indiana since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ike in 2008. Since 1950, 104 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 16 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 5
- Tornadoes
- 104
- EF3 or stronger
- 16
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
35 deaths in all
What the records show for Jonesboro
None of the 5 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Jonesboro; the strongest was Ike in 2008, a tropical storm with 58 mph winds when its centre passed 37 miles away. The record near Jonesboro begins with an unnamed storm in 1902; the most recent system was Ike in 2008. Of the 5 systems, one has come since 2000. Jonesboro has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 63% of the 356 Indiana cities on this site. The highest rating among the 104 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 3 times; the most recent, on April 11, 1965, came within 2 miles. Of the 104, 7 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 51 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 30. The most recent tornado was on April 2, 2025. Jonesboro has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 50% of the 356 Indiana cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 101 times since 1957, with stones up to 2.25 inches. Jonesboro has more hail reports within 10 miles than 82% of the 356 Indiana cities.
Compare Jonesboro's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Jonesboro
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | IkeSep 14 | 37 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1932 | Unnamed 1932 stormSep 3 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1923 | Unnamed 1923 stormOct 19 | 73 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 21 | 41 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 29 | 3 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Jonesboro: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Jonesboro
By decade
- 2020s11(1 EF3+)
- 2010s23(3 EF3+)
- 2000s17(1 EF3+)
- 1990s8(1 EF3+)
- 1980s3
- 1970s12(1 EF3+)
- 1960s19(7 EF3+)
- 1950s11(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 11, 1965 | F4 | 2 mi | 48 mi | 25 / 835 |
| Apr 11, 1965 | F4 | 15 mi | 52.5 mi | 4 / 125 |
| Mar 6, 1956 | F4 | 8 mi | 1.9 mi | 1 / 31 |
| Apr 9, 1953 | F3 | 12 mi | 156.7 mi | 3 / 22 |
| May 16, 1968 | F3 | 21 mi | 50.3 mi | 1 / 15 |
| Mar 31, 2023 | EF3 | 2 mi | 6.35 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 27, 2019 | EF3 | 15 mi | 12.76 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Aug 24, 2016 | EF3 | 21 mi | 8.63 mi | 0 / 20 |
| Jun 5, 2010 | EF3 | 24 mi | 7.45 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Sep 20, 2002 | F3 | 12 mi | 112 mi | 0 / 127 |
| Jun 11, 1998 | F3 | 12 mi | 18.5 mi | 0 / 8 |
| Jul 7, 1977 | F3 | 25 mi | 11.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 104, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Jonesboro
The Storm Prediction Center has 101 hail reports within 10 miles of Jonesboro since 1957, made on 62 separate days. Of these, 55 were 1 inch across or larger, and 4 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.25 inches, fell on July 5, 1961. The most recent report is from June 18, 2025. May has the most reports, 32.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Jonesboro
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Marion 2 N, IN, 8 miles north of Jonesboro at 790 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 84°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 33°F and 18°F. May is the wettest at 4.8 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.2 inches; the year adds up to 41.9 inches over 79 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 14 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 126 nights a year. Snowfall averages 24.5 inches a year, most of it in January. That 41.9 inches is more than at 47 of the 115 Indiana stations used on this site (41%). Upland, 8 miles east, has its own station (Hartford City 4 ESE, IN): 41.8 inches a year, 0.1 less than here, and a July average high of 83°F against 84°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 33 | 18 | 2.9 | 6 | 8.1 |
| Feb | 37 | 20 | 2.2 | 5 | 6.3 |
| Mar | 48 | 28 | 2.9 | 6 | 3.7 |
| Apr | 61 | 38 | 4.1 | 8 | 0.3 |
| May | 72 | 49 | 4.8 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 81 | 59 | 4.4 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 84 | 63 | 4.3 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 82 | 61 | 3.9 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 77 | 53 | 3.4 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 64 | 42 | 3.1 | 6 | 0.1 |
| Nov | 50 | 32 | 3.3 | 7 | 1.0 |
| Dec | 38 | 23 | 2.6 | 6 | 5.0 |
| Year | 61 | 40 | 41.9 | 79 | 24.5 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Marion 2 N, IN (790 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Jonesboro
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 141 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Jonesboro: 130 thunderstorm wind reports, 9 floods, 1 flash flood and 1 lightning strike. They killed 1 person and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $2.7 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 92 mph, on June 21, 1997.
January 13, 2013: flood 4 miles from the centre of Jonesboro — 1 killed.
December 6, 1998: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Jonesboro — 1 injured, $10,000 damage.
March 1, 2011: flood 5 miles from the centre of Jonesboro — $1.0 million damage.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Flood insurance policyholders in Jonesboro's ZIP code 46938 have filed 13 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1992, and were paid $96,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 8% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 155 Indiana cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 16 have fewer than Jonesboro.
Grant County, which includes Jonesboro, has been named in 22 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1965, 14 of them major disasters (by incident: 8 severe storms, 4 snowstorms, 3 floods, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on August 25, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Grant County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding and strong wind; Relatively Low for lightning and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $23.1 million a year, the 26th highest of 92 Indiana counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $12.3 million (53%), is from inland flooding.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.